Once Upon A Time in 2016

The Beast: Chapter 1

She was getting married today. Finally. The Plaza had been booked, the flowers had arrived, and the guests were descending upon London in their masses. Or so he heard from the others. He had booked his train ticket to Scotland the second the dainty gold invite had fallen through his letter box. As she travelled to India to get her wedding sarees, he looked at accommodation as far away from London as possible. As she dazzled everyone, her friends, their friends and his siblings, on the night of her engagement party, he found an old stately home, Pendlebury Hall in Scotland, which had a room available with all meals provided for a ridiculously cheap price. As she danced the nights away on the days leading up to her wedding, he packed the last of his belongings into boxes and sent them ahead of him. And now finally, the day was here.

He banged his head on the roof of the car again. Sighing inwardly, he looked out of the grimy window. Scotland was grey. There was no other word for it. Just grey..

The first step had been simple. To board a train from London to Edinburgh. Luckily for him the abysmal weather was made up for by the abundance of good looking girls travelling, and he kept himself amused for most of the journey, switching from one carriage to the next, leaving a very much intentional aura of being dark and mysterious behind him. After that he had a series of changes to make, hopping from one train on to another, racing past the Scottish landscape, cities turning into towns, towns turning into villages, and as the landscape changed, as did the females, they degraded rapidly from slim stunners with glistening hair, to grandmothers and podgy women who smiled at him with hope shining in their eyes(he pretended not to see them), until he finally boarded a rather sleepy looking grey train to Glor'floran.

"All aboard, the Glor'floran Express, direct to Glor'floran,"the conductor cried out, with a heavy accent. As he boarded the train, he could not distinguish what exactly what was express about the train, as it slowly trudged past the grey Scottish country side. He was alone in his compartment, and sensing he had a long journey to the middle of nowhere (otherwise known as Glor'floran), he snoozed off quietly into a peaceful slumber.

"Sir? Sir? We've arrived at Glor'floran," a voice said, waking him up. He drowsily opened his eyes, focusing on the train conductor's face.

"Thanks," he muttered, stretching, before grabbing his suitcase and getting off the train. According to the text he had to get to an inn called The Squeaky Violin. Luckily it was a 5 minute straight walk down from the station. The Squeaky Violin blended in with Glor'floran fantastically, it was beautifully, amazingly grey. It was rather large too, he thought, as he entered, struggling with his suitcase. He chuckled dryly to himself inwardly as he looked around. A grey town with grey people.

"Can I help you dear?" He turned to face the elderly bar maid. She had a slightly hunched back, and her grey eyes matched her grey hair. She looked at him suspiciously. He sighed. He's been getting looks all day since he'd left Edinburgh. It was hard being coloured out in these parts. They probably think I'm going to blow them up, he thought.

"I was told I could get a lift to Pendlebury Hall from here," he said, deciding it was best to be polite. The general murmuring that had been present in the inn since he had entered abruptly stopped. All eyes were suddenly on him, and he did not feel very comfortable. He began to back away from the crowd towards the door 

"S-sorry, I must have come to the wrong pla-" At that exact moment the doors of the inn flew open, giving way to an icy breeze. A tall man, clad all in black entered. He looked like a Victorian scientist, with a long black coat, a crisp white shirt under his black waistcoat, and antique goggles to match his tall top hat. His face was expressionless, until the doors snapped shut, after which his mouth formed into a slightly psychotic smile.

Removing the goggles to reveal startling blue eyes, he extended his right hand forward, "To Pendlebury Hall?" He asked in a crisp English accent that stuck out like a black Doberman puppy in the North Pole, as they shook hands.